The United States has officially designated the Muslim Brotherhood branches in Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan as terrorist organizations. This move comes in response to a long-standing request from Arab allies and American conservatives. The designation is part of an effort to counter the violence and destabilization caused by the Muslim Brotherhood, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The Muslim Brotherhood, a pan-Islamist movement founded in 1928 in Egypt, has spread across the Muslim world but has declined in recent years due to pressure from major Arab powers. The US Treasury Department has noted that the organization has a long history of terrorist activities, and Washington is working to exclude them from the international financial system.
As a result of the designation, the US will freeze all assets of the Muslim Brotherhood on its territory, criminalize any transactions with their members, and heavily restrict access to US territory. The Egyptian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood has announced that it will challenge the decision through legal channels, claiming it has never advocated violence nor threatened the United States.
The move has been welcomed by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, which have long sought to eradicate the Muslim Brotherhood. The organization’s ideology aims to establish a transnational Islamic caliphate, and it briefly came to power in Egypt in 2012 with the election of Mohamed Morsi. However, Morsi was overthrown in 2013, and the current Egyptian government has launched a massive crackdown on the organization.
The US decision may put pressure on allied countries to re-evaluate their relationships with the Muslim Brotherhood. Turkey, in particular, has become a major haven for the organization, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sharing ideological proximity with the Muslim Brotherhood. The designation may also have implications for the organization’s links with Hamas and Hezbollah, which are already classified as terrorist organizations by the US.
The move marks a significant turning point in the international fight against the Muslim Brotherhood and could profoundly reshape the organization’s global networks. The US designation is likely to have far-reaching consequences, including economic sanctions and asset freezes, and may lead to a re-evaluation of the organization’s presence in countries around the world.
